1. Field of the Invention
The present inventions relate to the field of wireless communications. More specifically, the present inventions, in exemplary embodiments, relate to wireless communications with tools and gauges deployed downhole in a hydrocarbon well.
2. Description of the Related Art
The complexity and cost of exploring for and producing oil and gas has increased significantly in the past few years. New challenges for drilling, completing, producing, and intervening in a well, environmental regulations, and wide swings in the price of oil have all changed the role of technology in the oil fields. The industry is relying on technology to affect the costs of exploring for hydrocarbons in the following ways:                Reduce operating expenses by automating the processes used to explore and produce hydrocarbons, reducing the frequency of unplanned intervention, and improving information and knowledge management to decrease operating inefficiencies.        Increase net present value by providing systems that will enhance the recovery of hydrocarbons from reservoirs and that will improve production techniques.        Reduce capital expenditures by creating processes that will decrease the number of wells drilled and that will also reduce the number of surface facilities and the amount of equipment required to handle larger quantities of hydrocarbons at those facilities.        
In response, new processes for drilling, completion, production, hydrocarbon enhancement, and reservoir management have been created by advancements in technology in fields such as high-temperature sensory, downhole navigation systems, composite materials, computer processing, speed and power, software management, knowledge gathering and processing, communications and power management.
The ability to communicate in and out of the wellbore using wireless systems can increase the reliability of completion systems and decrease the amount of time required for the installation of completion hardware in a wellbore. By way of example and not limitation, the elimination of cables, clamps, external pressure and temperature sensors, as well as splices on the cable that can fail inside the wellbore, may provide a significant advantage when attempting to place tools and sensors in horizontal sections of a well that has separate upper and lower completion sections.
Intelligent completions systems are now playing an important role in the remote control of the hydrocarbon flow. These systems have shown to be able to save a significant amount of money by decreasing unscheduled interventions in the wellbores as well as being able to optimize production. Integration of sensors and flow control with wireless communications and downhole power generation may change the way hydrocarbons are produced from the wellbore. By way of example and not limitation, the ability to place multiple intelligent completion systems in laterals without worrying about cable or hydraulic line deployment will give the ability to control production from horizontal sections of the wellbore and prevent the premature watering due to production only from the heel of the lateral instead of the entire lateral.
As used in the prior art, “Intelligent Well Completions” is understood to mean a combination of specialized equipment that is placed downhole (below the wellhead) to enable real time reservoir management, downhole sensing of well conditions, and remote control of equipment. Thus, “intelligent completions” include products and associated services which optimize the productive life of an oil or gas well through devices which either provide information to the operator at the surface for the purpose of enabling the operator to conduct intervention operations as necessary, or which regulate the well flow on some controlled basis, without the necessity of re-entering the well. Examples of “Intelligent Well Completions” are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,247,536 (Leismer et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,520 (Johnson); U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,272 (Pringle et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,491 (Pringle et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,383 (Pringle et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,236,047 (Pringle et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,663 Pringle et al.); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,896 (Tubel et al.). Some key features of intelligent completion systems include:                Power and telemetry cabling that provides a link between surface computer and downhole actuators        Downhole modules that measure pressure, temperature, and flow rate in the tubing and annulus        Surface units that monitor and request downhole data transfer on a periodic basis        Surface units that actuate downhole devices to optimize production parameters        
Because of hostile conditions inherent in oil wells, and the remote locations of these wells—often thousands of feet below the surface of the ocean and many miles offshore—traditional methods of controlling the operation of downhole devices may be severely challenged, especially with regard to electrical control systems.
For these reasons, reliability of systems operating in oil wells is of paramount importance, to the extent that redundancy is required on virtually all critical operational devices.
A wireless transmission tool provides the ability to communicate without wire media through the production tubing, such as by using fluid inside the wellbore and/or in geological formations through which the tubing passes. A system using such tools may be used to provide pressure/temperature information from inside the wellbore that is transmitted at predetermined intervals that may programmed before or after the tool is inserted in the well.
Acoustic wireless communications does not disrupt the flow of production fluids. Further, as the signals arc carried wirelessly such as by stress waves in production tubing, the data is virtually unaffected by the fluid in the well and data transmission is virtually unaffected by vibration in the wellbore such as by vibrations caused by artificial lift pumps.
Accordingly, there is a need for intelligent structures deployed downhole to aid with production of fluids, such as hydrocarbon fluids and gasses, where transmission of data to and from the tool is accomplished wirelessly.